Welcome to Global Warming Causes
Human Causes Of Global Warming Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Human Causes Of Global Warming. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
The Kyoto Protocol and Global Warming
from:The Kyoto Protocol was set up in a session of the United Nations in Japan in the year 1997. This initiative was set forth to reduce harmful emissions and to lessen global warming. It was adopted and contains goals for emissions that are legally binding for the countries involved.
The aim of the Kyoto Protocol is to prevent countries from causing global warming through human activity. There are some natural forces that contribute to global warming. However, it is the disruption of the climate by humans that is most damaging. This is what is addressed in the Kyoto Protocol.
The developed countries of the world have made commitments to reducing emissions in a timely manner. They have target dates and set levels they are supposed to reach by those times. There are six greenhouse gases that are meant to be reduced by 5% in the next few years. Three of these are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. If these countries are successful, it will reduce global warming.
It is interesting that, while many countries have agreed to reduce emissions, some countries will be allowed to raise emissions. These countries are Norway, Australia, and Iceland. These countries control global warming by keeping their increases to a certain level.
Other countries are asked to simply maintain the levels of emissions they already have. Countries such as Russia, Ukraine, and New Zealand do their part against global warming by maintaining the status quo.
The goals of the Kyoto Protocol to decrease global warming are supposed to be realized between the years 2008-2012. It seems that this will be a near impossibility at this point for many countries. The US especially is turning its back on the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. The initiative is given lip service by the powers that be, but real progress has been slow coming.
One way developed countries can receive credit under the Kyoto protocol is to help others. If developed countries sponsor emissions reducing programs in developing countries, they receive credit for this. It shows their commitment to the reduction of global warming.
Yet, not all developed countries have adopted the Kyoto Protocol. One glaring example is the US. As of December 2006, the US was one of the 169 governments that had signed the agreement to cut down on global warming. However, it did not ratify the agreement, so the treaty has no power in the US. Another hold-out was Australia.
There were two conditions that needed to be met to put this treaty into full legal force. One was that 55 countries needed to sign up. That condition was met in 2002. In 2005, the other condition was met when 55% of the developed countries had joined the effort to stop global warming.
The Kyoto Protocol was designed to hold developed countries up to a high standard. Developed countries are not only expected to create ways to reduce global warming. They are also rewarded if they help other countries to do the same. When every developed country joins in the struggle to reduce global warming, the earth will reap the benefits.
Human Causes Of Global Warming News
Dry, hot weather threatens California fire gains - Newsday
LOS ANGELES - Firefighters on Tuesday faced worsening weather conditions that pushed flames across firebreaks in parts of inland California and chased residents out of one small community. Along the coast, however, an evacuation order was lifted for ...
Read more...ND tornado victims get lots of volunteer help - Newsday
ROLLA, N.D. - Scores of volunteers Tuesday helped tornado-damaged communities in northern North Dakota clear away debris from a storm that destroyed six homes and seriously injured one man. A preliminary report from the National Weather Service said ...
Read more...Weird Weather Watch: Lightning - San Francisco Gate
A reader asked me to look at historical lightning data to see if the June lightning storms that caused many of the wildfires now blazing were unusual. As best I can tell from a quick look at state data is that the lightning itself wasn't that unusual ...
Read more...Dry, Hot Weather Threatens California Fire Gains - FOX News
July 5: Firefighter's work to contain brush fires out of control in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Goleta, Calif. July 5: Firefighter's work to contain brush fires out of control in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Goleta, Calif. LOS ANGELES ...
Read more...Texas Crop, Weather - AgNews
COLLEGE STATION – Much of West Texas and the Panhandle received rain, but the drought isn't officially over, said Dr. Billy Warrick , Texas AgriLife Extension Service agronomist based in San Angelo . "For this part of Texas, the statement generally ...
Read more...